De los e



Aug. 29, 1933. DE LOS E. II-IIBNER, JR., ET AL 0 BOILER CLEANER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVNTORS By Attorneys,

WEN IL IIW 8 1933. DE 1.05 E. HIVBNER, JR". ET AL 1,92

BOILER CLEANER Filed arch 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS By Attorneys,

Aug. 29, 1933. DE LOS E. HIBNER, JR., ET AL 1,924,550

BOILER CLEANER Filed March 10, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS By Attorneys,

V patencedfAt gQza 1933 1930, Serial No. 434,601

1 p ication i 10,

" f7 Claims. ('01. 122-492) type of soot cleaner wherein a so-called cleaner element'is used which comprises apipe extending in among the boiler tubes; from which steamor other cleaningfiuid is ejected over and around the tubes. The cleaner element is usually pro-' 'vided with suitable nozzles for this purpose.

There aref'at present inuse large water tube boilers wherein the number of tubes in the width of the boiler is so great that a cleaner eleme nt of the ordinary'diameter has not sufficient steam carrying capacity'to clean the entire-number'at oneoperation. In many instances an increase in diameter of the cleaner'element to increase its steam carrying capacity is not permissible :because of the lack of space'between the tubesor-for other reasons. According to the present invention in its-preferred form we provide a device in which the entire group of tubes can be cleanedby shift ing the cleaner element longitudinally and blowing steam or other fluid over alternate or successive sections of the tube system; 'By this means a single long element, projecting into the boiler from one side, is made to accomplish the func'f. tions of two shorter elements extending into the boiler from opposite sides.

The inventionalso includes a construction in which the valve travels tojits open'position and then to'its closed-position coincidentlywithand preferably actuated by the longitudinal move-- ments of the cleaner element; 'In the preferred form. of the'invention-the valve is closed when the cleaner element .is' in mid-positiony fromwhich position it is capable ofmovement infeither directionto perform a cleaning operation." I "Theinvention also includes several other iea more fullysdescribed,

of the invention,- -imechanism embodied in our invention.

thatfigure." v i 1 -Fig. 3 is a section'oiFig; 1 on the line 3-3.'

tion.

Fig. 5'is asection taken on line 5+5 in Fig; 4.

l Referring'first to Figs.v l to 3, let A indicate a? cleaner element which comprises a tube extending througha boiler wall B in the usualmanner'into;

tures of improvement which will "be hereinafter s the interior of the boiler.- The cleanerelement-isprovided with a series; of laterallyarranged'noz 'zles of-the-usual or'any desired construction, and

if the boiler is a large-one, so-thatffull advantage 0 a of the'inve'ntion may be'secured, the cleaner ele-f ment is'extended in a'transverse direction over;

theentire bank of tubes, But in 'this 'fcase the nozzles may be so-arranged that they are approxi i i, mately twice-the distance apart as is customary; 6 so that alternate areas" of-qthe tubesurtaces' are) cleaned at one position of i the element. 1 As prea j viously'stated, by' shiftingltheelement longitudinally the uncleaned alternate'sections or areas? are cleanedwhentheelementfis'shifted. j According to the preferredconstruction or they inventions-the outer end of the element A or its equivalent extends into a steam chamber C, int'o.

which a steam pipe D'leads, which feeds steam y,

from. theboiler into the chamber. 'Any other cleaning? fluid may, of 'course, i beQsubstitute d.

Preferably'the element-"A n'ot' only extends intoJ- the chamber, but passes through it, as'jbestsenj v "in'Fig, 1, its outer end being closed'andfiexposfed a tofatmosphere." To make altight jointbnjeach f the steam chamber C to the interiorof theclean er element is permittedby openings G'formed in f the lem'ent, so that in anyposition oftheelement e steam may flow from the chamber into theele} ment. Steam-fiow to the chamber 'C ,"however, is?

controlle'dsbya valve jHcoacting with a seat I;

the latter beingformed in the bottom wan of i transversely of the element, so thatthemaximum openingfor a given movement 01 the valve is ob- V t. tained. f The valve His mounted upon a carrier'" 'which maybe variously constructed that' shown comprising a rod K, the rod and. yalve beingf i r 7 (adapted,to-reciprocateina valvechaxnber L'ai fa, In the drawings which illustrate several forms ranged below the seat I, Themovements-of the 1 l i v Y A rod are in the construction shownimparted irom Figure l-is a longitudinal section, partly in ele'-. vation, of thegpreferred form of. the'operating' the exterior of the .valve chamber,- and themed is' hence provided with a packing gland M where;

. it passes out of the valvechamber. Fig. "2 is a sectionof Fig. 1. on the line 2 2,01

In the preferred construction the valve move-" ments through the medium of the ;rod Kare controlledfand preferably actuated; by the move- -Fig. 4,;is a view of a modified form of theinven ments of the cleanerjelement A. vThus in the the element A-by two nuts O and? screwing"on 1 i exterior threads on the element, and by means f of which anexact longitudinalxadjustmentmay the steam issuing from the nozzles tosweep the H boiler tube surfaces as iscustomary, and the other a longitudinal movement to cause the cleaner to shift its position lengthwise. It will be, of course, understoodthat these movements may be quite distinct, orrnay be compoundedrso that both may takeplaceeither wholly or partly during the same time; I V

Inthe present form of-the invention'we pro vide means whereby a single operative'member, 0 such as the sheave wheel Q, may act to produce the different motions required ,bythe invention. Thewheel Q is fixedly mounted upon a shaft R,

Which shaft rotates in abearing' S 'formedon ,a

bracket Tconnected with the steam chamber wall. The shaft R: has also fixedlymounted upon it a pinion-llwhich mesheswith a pinion -V fixed upon a longitudinally extended operating screw W which at one end has a bearing inthe wallgofq the .steam ohamber and-at the other end has a v bearing in aplate which surrounds the cleaner element and which is held fixedly in position by bolts Y 'WhiCh connectit with the lowerwall ofthesteam chamben ItQresults from this construction that when the sheave wheel Q is turned bya chain orthe like the screw W is also turned,

and asthe pinions U and Vareof the same diameter, the screw'W will rotate once for each rotation of the sheave wheel Q, although, of course,-

this may be varied as desired. I

(At the-extreme left-hand of the W the latter carries a; small pinion A whichmeshes" with a large gear B keyed to the cleaner element in-suchmanner that a; relative sliding motionis permittedzi The proportionate diameters of the pinionand; gear may be varied, butthey are shown asapproximately 1 to 6, so-thatforone rotationof'thescrewW, and hence of thesheave wheel, there isla one-sixth of arotation of the Qgearwheehand consequently the'cleaner element.

I As gis customary in-th'is art the angular movement of the cleaner element is usually an oscillating one, the element rotating back and forth through M an are which is selected as that-being. best adapt- 1 edfor each element. Ordinarily the .arc of oscila f-lation is lessthan 180, and in many. cases it is 'much less; .ioccasionally, however, this angularl movement will be exceeded. 1 The preferred means; for limitinglthe angular movement to definite ares willibe' hereinafter referred to. i 9

By preference .the screw W. is :utilized for im-' parting a longitudinal movement to the element, and this is shown as accomplished through the medium o'f travelling nut members C and D" gli hich'engage the'screw, as shown inFfig. 1 and which, as best seen in Fig.2,- also slide along a h i is not necessary to employ acleaner element of fixed guidebarjE whichis'held betweenthe plate X andthe' wall'of the steam chamber. This const ruc tion prevents the turning of the nut mem -bers as the screw W turnsa'nd compels them to.

travel to th'eright or to the left. asthesheave is an eye G. encircling the screw 'W between the two nut members.

It results from this construction that if the parts be assumed to be inthe position'of Fig. '1, and the sheave wheel be rotatedin a direction to move the nuts C D to the right, the element will be moved to the right until the valve H is opened. This position isdetermined in .thestructure shownby, contact .of. the stop surface H of the bracket F with a stop screw I carried by the wall of the steam chamber. When the parts are-in this position further movement of the elemerit to the right is prevented. During this opening movement of the valve to the right, the clean- .er element also incidentally turns in-the construc- .tion shown, but as this turning movement isv accompanied by only a-partial admission of steam through the progressively opening valve it is preferablynot relied upon for cleaning purposes.

The actual cleaning operation with'the element at itsextreme right is accomplished by reversing the directionof the sheave wheel, this carrying the two nuts to the left and leavingthe element in'its extreme right handposition withthe valve open, in which position itis maintained so far as longitudinal movementis concerned until the, .nut D strikes the eye G and moves the element to the left to its mid position, wherein the valve J Ellis closed. Duringthis movement, when the valve is wide'open, the cleaning operation is main-v ly performed." This is dueito the fact that while the element is retained' longitudinally in fixed. position, it is, nevertheless, being rotated by the pinionA" at the end of the screw ,W which rotates the gear B and hencethecleaner element. A,

continued movement of'the sheave in the same direction will result in the nut D being forced further to the left andwith'itthe bracket F and cleaner,elementuntilv the valve is wide open When a stop and'lies to theleft of this seat. surface J. contacts with a stop bolt L formed on the plate X, the valve has reached its wide open position, and upon a reversal of the, sheave wheel the element :againperforms its angular:

cleaning movement.

It is to be noted, however, that the latter an gular cleaning movement occurs. during the time when the element is shifted to the. left, so that the nozzles lie over a fresh section ofboiler tubing;

It, hence. follows from the'o'peration thus described thatthe cleaner elementhas two' op- 'erativej positions, one at its extreme; limit of movement at the right andthe other. at itsextreme limit of movement: at :the left. :It hence cleans approximately one-half of the tube surface on each .of these movements. While the cleaner is preferably fdesigned' to extend entirelytacross the boiler,. the, arrangement of nozzles is preferably such that they. are spaced usually about twice the customary distance, ."so that .at

tions, there will be alternate areas ofcleaned the finish of the first of the two' cleaning opera i and uncleaned surfaces' while at the'second op-' eration the .uncleaned:surfaces will be cleaned. Bytheusej of thepresent invention; therefore, it

sufficient internaldiameten. to clean the entire element can-be used whichhas only sufficient Itwill be} observed that in the preferred'form of the invention these. two' cleaning operations .surface at one time. .A considerably smaller steam-carrying capacity to clean. one-half the 4 v ;required area at one time; turned. Motion is transmitted from. one or the other of the nut members, C" D to the ,cleaner ,fiT-eIernent by mean'slofan upper extension-F of.

thebracket which 7 is preferably... formed with from a middle" position, wt-tam newline is position. It is, 'of "course; possib'1e,=to clean and reclean one half the area of the tubes by special manipulation of the element 7 from the central position to one extreme with the valve open, and T then by reversing the sheave to continue to oscil-' late the element without moving-itlengthwise, This method of operation will necessary or desirable.

j It will be observed that in thenorrnal operation of the preferred construction'shown the effective cleaning is performed during the interval -when neither' of theinuts C D isin 'contactwith the o 0 connected by bolts Cf. when the bolts are loosenedythenuts can be slid along'the scre I thecleaner over the uncleanedareasof'the bank,

eye G; that is'to say, duringthe'time: that one nut is travelling away from the-eye and'the;op-;

posite nut is travelling toward it. The number of rotations of the screw thusavailed of for-'effe'ctive angularmo'vement depends entirelyupon the adjustmentof thetwo nuts" C D'. If a small angular movement'is hence'required, the nuts 25., will befadjusted toward each other, and if a large angular movement, the nutspwillibe separated. By reference toFigQ 2,itwil1 be seen that the adjustment of the nuts along the screw is provided forby forming thenut in two parts,

'to the proper position. i i l Theconstruction shownin Fig. lis so designedthat when-the nuts are separated to theirmaximum, the element is"permitted a full rotain n In the construction tion of'--360' of factive'operationfla sufficient axriountof travel beyond this'being permitted at the beginningand end of the operation to open and close the valve. If inthe constructionshown'f the pinion A has four teeth and the gear B has inches. Such effective separation would be ob tained by measuring the distance" between the? two nuts and subtracting the thickness of the eyeG, If. a ninety degree angular movemen'tis required, the effective separation between th'etwo nuts would be one inch. Theytw o nuts mierrea; constitute an adjustable-lost motion connection 5.

for moving the element.

Since in'the type of cleaner which is provided by the preferred form of the invention, the valve v.is closed in an intermediate position, our invention provides an index or indication which shows when this position has been reached. This indicator may be any one ofthe various types .of

indicators which are. known in the art, either audible or visible, or otherwise. We prefer, how-,

ever, to use an audible signal, such as the whistle N, which is connected with the steam chamber C and sounds during the operation of the device.- A cessation of the operation silencesthe whistle;

qvalves which is shown in each of the constructions In the construction shown in Fig. 4, results are "accomplished which are similar to those with regard to Figs. 1 to 3, and the device bearsja close,

shaft which is turned by a sheave Q and which causes a nut G to' travel longitudinally ofthe cleaner element, the nut being formed on a "bracket N loosely connected with the cleaner ordinarily not be I angular movement =of5the cleaner is determined forty-eight teeth andfthe screw W is provided- 1 with threet hreads' to the inch'jthe effective sep'a ration. of the two nuts C"a'r 1d- D to secure an active cleaning 'operatio'n'of 36Q wouldbefour low for thisfpurpose, and the. two. sheaves and Q are concentrically arranged:

lAs' in-the constructionof Figi-lthevalve and I element occupy an "intermediate position when the valve is closed; When it is .desiredto operate theelement inits right-hand position: the sheave .wheelfQ is operated-to cause the, nut, elementand: valve to travel to the right. When the extreme right hand position is reached," wherein a stop H 'engages an abutment.I the-valve is fully open, andthe cleaner is then-rotated by forward oscillation may continue as-long as desired in' this positiongandwhen the cleaning operation isfffinished, the sheave wheel-oz is again operated tocause the nutG the element A? and the valve H totravel to'their extreme left position, wherein a stopJ engagesan abutment L3. This movementbrings*thehozzlesbf;

of tubes, whereupon the actual cleaning operaa" tioninay be'accomplished by rotating :the sheave. wheel'Q adjustable if desired. .The degree ofrotativefor.

we. stop Awcarried" by gear J3 andi 'whichzis. designed tocontact with astojp B4 carried upon X 5. The stopfA' also engages a stop (yearnedupon ajjeove'r' p1ate E theedge 'of'vwhich is pro videdwith a series of notches (F? around its f propriate holes H in the ring D It willalso- -f be observed that the angular position of the stop C maybe adjusted by bringing the fappropriate recesses F in coincidence with the cap screws G4. By this simple adjustment any location of the stops which is desired may be obtained,

so I, that not only any degree of angular movement of the cleaner maybe obtained, but also that 5m aesai agai magi-1i 1 'tudinal movement of the cleaner-is limited-by j the-travel of the nut, and the-latter: may bemade [at ring D which fitsnonrotatably intoithe platefl e angular positien'of.the stopiB' onthe ring D i m y ju t d-byi-loeatinguthf pinsItYihiiap-lf thisarc of travel may 'be loca-ted atanydesired min r 4 Our invention also presents an improvement in illustrated.- In the preferred construction the l valve Herd-1 is mounted .in'a carrier A? which; preferably hasa squared opening 13?, the valve havinga'similarly shaped shank C The'valve is heldagainst its seatnot onlyby steam pres-a Mm sure," but bya springD which presses agiainst a supporting surfaceEishownas carried by a plate F which'is threaded ,to receive thesteam pipe D1 The supporting surface E maybe formed di- 1 3 rectly'onthe plate, or may be formed upon a wearblock G fitted to the plate as shown. A cup H h the element.

is preferably, interposed between, the spring .and the plate; Itwillbe understood that the platehas openingson'each side which the supporting surface E5 bridges. By interposing gaskets I of vari-,- ous thicknesses between the plate andthe wall of the steam chamber any desired adjustment of the supporting surface with relation to the valve may, be obtained. Oragasket may be used which has sufiicient compressibility to be adjusted by the manipulation of the screw bolts holding theplate F to the wall of the steam chambeix. Thevalve T seat I or I ispreferably oval and flaton its unvder side, and the non-rotative connection between the valvefand its carrier permits the use of an oval valve without danger of angular movement of the latter. 7 t

1 Theolatter construction is adapted for the pur'- pose of. obtaining a quick opening of sufficient valve area to supply the requisite amount of steam and permits a cleaning action if desired during a considerable part While we have we do not wish to be limited thereto, since various "changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What weclaim is: I 1. A cleaner for boilers or the valve and said cleaner element, said connection having means to transmit theilongitudinal movements of, the, cleaner .element to the valve, and

said connectionlpermitting relative rotativemove .v

m'en'ts between itself and the cleaner element.

2'. A cleaner for boilers or the 1ike,co mprising fa longitudinally movable cleaner element adapted also'f-or rotation, a screw, gearingturned by'said screw for rotating the :element, means including. a lost motion device operated bysaidzscrew for" longitudinally moving the element, saidrlostmo-g tion device being so arranged that-said screw; and; gearing is. operable to'rotate the element without;

1 imparting longitudinal movement thereto.

3. A cleaner for boilers or the like having a single .valve seat and a reciprocating, valve and from'itsseat to: open the latter, andsignalmeans for-indicating the positions of the valve and seat..

means for moving the valve in two directions away of the longitudinal travel of shown and described several forms of the invention, it will be, understood that like, comprising a ,cleanerelementwhich is mounted for rotation and, longitudinal movement,. a' source ofnfiuid, a valve, for-controlling thepassage of fluid to the cleaner-element, and a connection' b'etween said Q 4. A' cleanerjfor'boilers or the like having; a single valveseat and a reciprocating ,valve and means ,ior moving the valve in; two, directions away f-rom'its seatto openthe latteryand signal means for indicating the positions of the valve.

and seat, said means'operating when the valve is p s a 5. A; cleaner for boilersjor the like having varsingle valve seat and a reciprocating valve and -m eans for moving the valve in twodire'ctions away from its 'seat to open the latter, and Signal means for indicating the positions of the valve and seat,;

said means operating when the valve is open and connected with the cleaning comprising a whistle ui ambe 6. A cleaner forboilers or the like, comprising "a cleanerelement constructed andarrangedfor longitudinal movement to different blowing posi- -tions ,'a steam chamber in constant communication with said element,-a valve so constructed and arrangedas to be; moved by the element in its longitudinal movements for supplying steam to said chamber in each .of said blowing positions, I

a screw having 'a'pinion fixed on the ,end thereof, a gear meshing with said -pinion andso con nected to said element as to impart rotation there to and provide for longitudinal sliding'of the element relatively to the gear, .a pair of nuts moved bysaid screw, and a member located between said nuts-and so connectedrto'said'element as to lon- 7. A cleaner forboilers vor-the like, comprising- I nuts and so connectedto said element as to longitudinally move 'thesame when engagedby lsaifdi nuts,'=- and said nuts being adjustable to vary the" rotation or said element.

DE Los 'HI NER, 'JR;

THEODORE BRUB'ACK.

105 gitudinally move the same whenengaged by said- 

